Since the advent of the commercial car wash, operators of these establishments have searched for a more effective, more economical, and faster method of removing water from freshly washed automobiles. Originally, the water was simply removed manually by wiping with hand towels. As the industry became more mechanized, warm air jets directed at the automobiles were found to be helpful in removing most of the water prior to the final water removal step in which hand towels were utilized.
It was found that the water was more easily removed by the air jets if it was first beaded or formed into droplets. Accordingly, it was discovered that most petroleum and fatty materials when discreetly sprayed onto the surface of the automobile after it had been washed would cause the water to bead and thus facilitate its subsequent removal. Unfortunately, some of these petroleum and fatty materials were harmful to the finish of the automobile; others leave windows streaked and leave unsightly deposits on the automobile; most have no polishing properties. Also, many currently used compositions have become undesirable because of environmental concerns, toxicity, lack of biodegradability or both.
These auto spray waxes or drying aids have also been used in automatic car washes for many years to increase the luster on the automobile finish while aiding in the removal of water from the car surface. Most of these auto spray waxes or drying aids are sold in dilute solutions of about 35%-45% active spray wax and applied to cars in a much more dilute solution. Preferable dilutions for application to an automobile surface are in the range of 0.25% to 2%. A typical standard used to measure the success of these drying or rinse aids is the size of the beads of water. The larger the beads, the more efficiently the water can be blown from the car surface at the end of the washing process.
A typical spray wax or drying aid contains a hydrophobe such as mineral seal oil, an emulsifier such as a quaternary ammonium salt, ethoxylated amines or nonionic surfactants, a glycol ether coupling solvent, and water.
In recent years, with the advent of increased ecological awareness, there has been talk of restricting the use of "oils" or "hydrocarbons" in cationic emulsions that are used to aid in drying cars in car washes. The terms "oils" and "hydrocarbons" are not usually specifically defined when discussed in terms of their removal from rinse aids used in car washes. In Germany where this kind of restriction is already in effect, the definition of "hydrocarbon" is "a substance containing only carbon and hydrogen." This leads to an assumption that the German law may be used to provide similar definitions in United States regulations in the future. Clearly, mineral seal oil would fall within this definition. Therefore, it would be desirable to make an emulsion composition which facilitates the removal of water from automobile surfaces and leaves a high luster thereon without the use of mineral seal oil, and possibly also without the use of glycol ethers, some of which have significant toxicity.
The present invention is directed to such an emulsion composition which provides generally a composition which facilitates removal of water from automobile surfaces and which leaves a high luster thereon.